Ingot making equipment for steel making works

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to an ingot making apparatus for steel making works wherein the size of the steel making works is made small, idle working spaces are eliminated, carriages can be moved at a high efficiency, the positions of rails for running the carriage and rails of a traverser can be quickly and accurately adjusted and a high efficiency operation can be attained.

United States Patent 1 Saigo et al.

[ 1 INGOT MAKING EQUIPMENT FOR STEEL MAKING WORKS [751 Inventors: Kazuo Saigo, Wakayama City;

Kazumasa Nakamura, Kitakyushu City, both of Japan [73] Assignee: Sumitomo Metal Industries Limited, Osaka City, Japan [22] Filed: Mar. 23, 1972 [21] App1.No.: 237,412

[ Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 23, 1971 Japan 46-2504 Mar. 24, 1971 Japan 46-21097 [52] US. Cl. 266/13 [51] Int. Cl. C2lc 5/00 [58] Field of Search 164/266, 412; 266/13; 104/4750, 168; 105/30 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,452,971 7/1969 Rinesch 266/13 3,590,524 7/1971 Beny 104/168 1451 Feb. 12, 1974 479,858 8/1892 Thillman et a1 104/47 2,321,253 6/1943 Schellentrager.. 104/50 3,254,376 6/1966 Burnett 164/412 3,675.583 7/1972 Sobey et all 105/30 FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 1,162,513 2/1964 Germany 266/13 Primary Examiner-Gerald A. Dost Attorney, Agent, or FirmWatson, Cole, Grindle &

Watson 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures IPAIENTEUFEBIZIW I .K f 3.791.637

sum 10F 7 FIG. I

PAIENTEDFEBIZIW 3,791,637-

. snismow 1 INGOT MAKING EQUIPMENT FOR STEEL MAKING WORKS This invention relates to a small-sized apparatus for ingot making and more particularly to an ingot making apparatus for steel making works having improved carriage driving devices and rail centering devices.

In a conventional ingot making apparatus for steel making works, a laterally long casting bay and mold bay are provided in front of a charging bay and furnace bay, many ingot making carriages moving in the width direction of the bay are parallelly provided in the casting bay, ingot conveying carriages are provided so as to move in a direction at right angles to the ingot making carriages on the side of the casting bay, a casting mold cooling stand is provided in the mold bay and casting mold conveying carriages are parallelly provided so as to move on the extended lines of the ingot making carriages. When the ingot making carriages are thus parallelly provided, the building of the casting bay will become laterally long and the mold bay will also become long and, while any carriage is at a stop for casting in, the operations of the stripper yard below the carriage and the mold bay cannot be made. Therefore, the equipment must be made large, all the equipment can not be effectively used, idle working spacers are made and thus the efficiency is reduced.

Further, in a steel-making works, when the casting operation is completed, the ingot-making carriage will be normally moved as is to a striping pit and the mold will be released. When the casting operation is finished in the casting pit and striping pit, the ingot-making carriage will be moved in the lateral direction, will be mounted on a traverser, will be moved to a striping bay by means of of the traverser and will be further moved to the striping pit by the traverser. In said moving step, for the movement from the casting pit to the traverser and the movement from the traverser to the striping pit, the carriage is moved in accordance with a known method with a winch and wire rope or a driving device as a motor is mounted on the carriage so that the carriage may self-run. However, there are both in techniques. For example, when using the winch and wire rope method, it is required in each round to fit and remove the wire rope and to operate the winch and therefore the operation efficiency is very low and, in the method wherein the carriage is self-run with such driving device as a motor, there are defects in that a device for feeding the motor with electricity is required and the cap and tire must be fitted and removed.

There are laid running rails in the casting pit of the casting bay and in the stool preparation pit of the stool preparation bay so that the ingot-making carriages may move in a direction at right angles to the moving direction of the traverser. That is to say, after the casting operation, the ingot-makin g carriage is mounted on the traverser and is conveyed to the striping pit. However, in the case of mounting the ingot-making carriage on the traverser, needless to say, it will be necessary to make the rails of the traverser coincide with the rails for running the ingot making carriage. As the traverser runs on the rails through wheels, unless a special braking device is provided, it will be so difficult in fact to stop the running traverser at once in a position in which both rails coincide with each other, that both rails will deviate from each other and their positions will have to be adjusted. As the positions of such rails are manually adjusted, such large labor and time are required that the time loss is large and the efficiency is low.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ingot making equipment wherein the size of a steel work is made small by changing the arrangement and carriage moving direction and idle working spaces are eliminated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ingot-making apparatus with carriage driving devices in each of which it is not required at all to fit and remove the wire rope, cap and tire in the conventional technique and it is made possible to move the carriage at a high efficiency.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ingot-making apparatus having rail centering devices in each of which the positions of rails for running a carriage and rails of a traverser can be quickly and accurately adjusted.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an arrangement of an ingot-making apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an arrangement view of a casting bay and striping bay;

FIG. 3 is a sectioned view on line III-III in FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is a sectioned view on line IVIV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a carriage driving device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of a rail centering device of the present invention in a casting pit;

FIG. 7 is a sectioned view of the device in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a rail centering device;

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the state in the case of working the present invention.

There is provided a traverser 5 running through a casting bay 3 and stool preparation bay 4 parallelly provided in front of a charging bay 1 and furnace bay 2, many ingot-making carriages 6 made to move in a direction at right angles to the moving direction of the traverser 5 are arranged on both sides of traverser 5. Rails 8 for running ingot conveying carriages 7 made to move in a direction at right angles to the moving direction of the traverser 5 are laid at the end of the traverser 5, and a ladle crane 9 for conveying a molten steel is provided in the casting bay 3 and a stripper crane 10 is provided in a mold bay 11.

A molten steel prepared by a melting furnace 12 is received by a ladle, is conveyed onto an ingot-making carriage 6 by the ladle crane 9 mounted on the casting bay 3, is cast into a casting mold (not illustrated) on the ingot making carriage and is left until it coagulates to be an ingot. Then, when the coagulation ends, the ingot-making carriage 6 will be mounted on the traverser 5 which passes through the stool preparation bay 4 until it comes to a mold bay 11 at which it will stop. Then the ingot-making carriage will leave the traverser 5, will be transferred to a fixed position on the rails 8 and will stop. At this time, the stripper crane 10 mounted on the mold bay 11 will move to transfer the ingot on the ingot making carriage onto the ingot conveying carriage 7 and the casting mold onto casting mold cooling stand 13.

The ingot-making carriage from which the casting mold and ingot have been removed is again transferred onto the traverser 5, is moved into the stool preparation bay 4, is moved in a direction at right angles to the traverser and is stoppoed in a fixed position. Then bricks of the surface plate are replaced, the ingot making carriage 6 is again transferred onto the traverser and is moved into the mold bay 11, has the casting mold and pouring pipe assembled, is conveyed into the casting bay 3 by the traverser 5 and is placed in a fixed position and thus the preparation for the next molten steel casting is completed.

Further, if a track 14 is set in the casting bay 3, an ordinary top pouring parallel casting will be able to be made.

The time required for one cycle in an embodiment of the present invention is shown in the following.

(Unit: Minutes) Friction rollers 17 holding on both sides a shoe l6 fixed to the carriage are driven through gears and 19 by a geared motor 18. The gear 19 and friction roller 17 are set rotatably with the axis of the gear 20 as a center. Further, the shoe 16 is held under a fixed pressure by the friction rollers 17 by fastening a spring 22 at the free ends of arms 21 and the carriage 6 is moved by a frictional force between the shoe and friction rollers 17 by the drive of the geared motor 18. Further, when the spring 22 is pressed by a fluid pressure such as an oil pressure, the frictional force will be able to be made larger. Even in case the position of the shoe 16 Size of ingot 4.3 tons 5.6 tons 5.7 tons Pip Step

Casting coagulating Mold releasing. Cooling Surface plate plating... Mold setting Drying Total Delay allowance Grand total Rate (percent) Required time Turns of carriage 2.44

In the above table, A, B and C represent respectively a casting pit, stool preparation pit and striping pit and the turns of the carriage show a number of turns per day.

The working places required for the respective pits are given by the following formulas:

Working places required for the casting pit X N X a/ 1440 Working places required for the stool preparation pit Y= N X b/l440 and X= X 366/1440 7.6 8 places Y 30 X 192/1440 4 places and Z= 30 X 121/1440 2.5 3 places.

That is to say, in the case of making 30 castings by using ingots of 5 .7 tons, if there are arranged 8 places in the casting pit, 4 places in the stool preparation pit and 3 places in the striping pit, the respective working places will be able to be effectively worked.

The movement of the carriage to or from the traverser in the casting pit or striping pit shall be explained V in the following with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5.

The traverser 5 moves as mounted on the rails 15 and the carriage 6 is moved by the carriage driving device according to the present invention. This device is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 3 to 5.

of the carriage deviates from the center of the friction rollers 17, as the arm 21 is rotatable with the axis of the gear 20 as a center, the shoe 16 will be held reasonably tight and the carriage will be driven smoothly.

A device for adjusting the positions of rails 23 of the traverser 5 and rails 24 for running the ingot-making carriage 6 is shown in FIGS. 6 to 9. The rails 23 fixed on a frame 25 provided to project at both side ends of the traverser 5 are divided into fixed rails 23' and movable rails 23" of any length. Each movable rail 23" is fixed on the frame 25 so as to be rotatable about a pin 26 as a fulcrum and the movable rails 23 on both sides are interconnected by a connecting rod 27 secured at opposite ends to rails 23" by means of pins 28. Rails 23." are therefore interconnected so as to be always parallel with each other. Rod 27 is mounted on a movable base 30 for rotation about a pin 31, base 30 being rotatably mounted on a base 29 of the traverse. A movable bar 33 is provided with a removable forked metal piece 32 of any predetermined angle at the free end of bar 35 capable of forward and rearward movement parallel to the rails and being positioned halfway between the rails. Bar 33 is mounted on base 30, and base 30 is mounted on; a supporting frame 36 which a base frame 35. Base 30 and frames 35, 36 are mounted for rotation on a shaft 34 mounted between the sidewalls of the base 29 of the traverser as a fulcrum. Bar 33 is mounted on base 30 for sliding movement by means of bearings 37, affixed to the upper surface of the movable base 30 between its sides, and is connected at its rear end with a piston rod 39 of an oil pressure cylinder 38 fixed to the rear part of base frame 35 through a link 40 engaged with said rod 39, a connecting rod 41 secured to said link 40 and a link 42 engaged at one end with said connecting rod 41. That is to say, the movable bar 33 is so formed as to move forward and rearward as operatively connected with the vertical movement of the piston rod 39 9f theoil pressure c ylinder 38. Oil pressure cylinder 3 8 is remotely operated. The means of moving this movable bar 33 forward and rearward is not limited only to the above-mentioned link mechamism but any mechanism such as, for example, a rack-and-pinion system may be also used. In the drawings, 43 is a movable rail centering guide pin provided for engagement with forked link 32. As shown in FIG. 6, said pin 43 is aligned with the axis of the movable bar 33 on the floor surface of the running rail 24 side. Movable base 30 is positioned always in the center of the base 29 by means of springs 44 hung between it and the frame 25. That is to say, in case the traverser 5 stops as deviated while the rails 23 of the traverser 5 and the rails 24 for run- "n ifig r56Eighties aariageare witliin t li range of the fork angle of the forked metal piece, if the oil pressure cylinder 38 is operated to advance the movable bar 33, the guide pin 43 will contact the inside inclined surface of the forked metal piece 32 and will be guided to the middle of said metal piece while sliding on the inside surface of the forked metal piece 32. Therefore, the movable base 30 and base frame 35 will rotate in any direction about supporting shaft 34 as a fulcrum and, at the same time, the movable rails 23" will rotate by the same angle in the same direction about pin 26 as a fulcrum. When the guide pin 43 is positioned in the middle valley part of the forked metal piece 32, the free ends of the movable rails 23" will coincide with the running rails 24 (FIG. 9). In the present invention, it is a necessary condition to stop the traverser within the range of the fork angle of the forked metal piece 32 fixed at the free end of the movable bar 33. Therefore, the range of centering the rails is freely varied by the fork angle. In order to move the traverser 5 after the running of the ingot-making carriage, the oil pressure cylinder 38 is operated to lower the rod 39, to thereby retreat the movable bar 33 and disengage the guide pin 43 with the forked metal piece 32. When the guide pin 43 is completely released from the forked metal piece 32, the movable base 30 will return to the orginal condition due to the springs 44.

In this embodiment, the adjustment of the positions of the rails 24 for running the ingot-making carriage and the rails 23 of the traverser 5 has been described. It is needless to say that the adjusting of the positions of the rails 8 for running the ingot conveying carriage 7 can also be made by this device.

As mentioned above, in the presnt invention, the ingot-making carriages and ingot conveying carriages are so made as to move in a direction at right angles to the traverser coming to the mold bay through the casting bay and stool preparation bay, and the required working places are arranged in each pit so that each working place may be effectively worked. Thus, any idle working spaces can be eliminated and the equipment can be made small.

When the carriage driving device of the present invention is arranged in the carriage moving step in each of the casting bay and striping bay, the carriages will be capable of being automatically moved to any desrired bay and the working efficiency will be remarkably improved. Further, the device of the present invention can be utilized not only for casting carriages but also for track carriages.

Further, as mentioned above, in the present invention, the rails in the end part of the traverser are integrally rotatably provided while maintained parallel, are operatively connected with the movable bar which is provided removably with the forked link of any angle, is movable forward and rearward and is rotatable horizontally and are centered by the mutual action of the guide pin and forked link provided on the axis of said movable bar. Further the oil pressure cylinder can be remotely operated so that, in case the rails of the traverser and the running rails deviate from each other, the rails may be centered automatically, simply, quickly and accurately.

What is claimed is:

1. An ingot-making apparatus characterized in that a traverser running to pass through a casting bay, stool preparation bay and mold bay of a steel making works is provided, ingot-making carriages moving in the direction at right angles to the moving direction of said traverser are arranged on both sides of said traverser so as to be parallel to a casting pit in said casting bay, stool preparation pit in said stool preparation bay and stripping pit in said mold bay, respectively, and ingotconveying carriages in said mold bay move in a direction at right angles to the moving direction of said traverser.

2. An ingot-making apparatus according to claim 1 wherein working places are arranged at a ratio of 8 4 3 in the casting pit, stool preparation pit and striping pit.

3. An ingot-making apparatus according to claim 1 wherein carriage driving devices are provided each having a shoe in the running direction of the carriage on the underside of the carriage and setting friction rollers pressing said shoe on both sides thereof by fluid pressure means, and a driving device rotating and driving said rollers on the floor below the carriage are arranged in the casting pit, stool preparation pit, stripping pit and traverser.

4. An ingot-making apparatus according to claim 1 wherein centering devices in each of which end parts oF rails are rotatably provided to be movable rails and a movable bar having a forked metal piece at its free end is provided so as to be movable forward and rearward between said rails are set in the traverser, and guide pins each to fit said forked metal piece are set in the casting pit, stool preparation pit and stripping pit. 

1. An ingot-making apparatus characterized in that a traverser running to pass through a casting bay, stool preparation bay and mold bay of a steel making works is provided, ingot-making carriages moving in the direction at right angles to the moving direction of said traverser are arranged on both sides of said traverser so as to be parallel to a casting pit in said casting bay, stool preparation pit in said stool preparation bay and stripping pit in said mold bay, respectively, and ingot-conveying carriages in said mold bay move in a direction at right angles to the moving direction of said traverser.
 2. An ingot-making apparatus according to claim 1 wherein working places are arranged at a ratio of 8 : 4 : 3 in the casting pit, stool preparation pit and striping pit.
 3. An ingot-making apparatus according to claim 1 wherein carriage driving devices are provided each having a shoe in the running direction of the carriage on the underside of the carriage and setting friction rollers pressing said shoe on both sides thereof by fluid pressure means, and a driving device rotating and driving said rollers on the floor below the carriage are arranged in the casting pit, stool preparation pit, stripping pit and traverser.
 4. An ingot-making apparatus according to claim 1 wherein centering devices in each of which end parts oF rails are rotatably provided to be movable rails and a movable bar having a forked metal piece at its free end is provided so as to be movable forward and rearward between said rails are set in the traverser, and guide pins each to fit said forked metal piece are set in the casting pit, stool preparation pit and stripping pit. 